Crossing and Accelerating (1)
It was luck. Kang Shin-hyuk’s spiritual power had reached the rank of SSS, even if only temporarily, and his strong spirit was communicating with all things surrounding him to provide him situational information. That included the actions of all surrounding beings, the movement of their magical power, and going one step beyond that, even their consciousness of a superficial level…
Thanks to that, he was able to recognize and react to the attack faster than anyone else, perhaps even Oh Joo-young, who was attacking him.
“Huh…?!” Kang Shin-hyuk pulled both of his hands down, pulling at the layer of hundreds of threads around his body that he had prepared in advance. It was a precautionary measure he prepared, but he didn’t think he would need to use it so soon. The strands of thread quickly wrapped around the sword like a spider wrapping its prey, slowing it down but not fully stopping it. His uniform was pierced as the sword tore past his skin and muscle to find the bone. Red blood flowed out from the sword embedded into him, stopping just before it could pierce his heart. The mighty magical power of the sword was invaded by the soul poison flowing through the thread. He had successfully stopped the surprise attack from the New Sword, Oh Joo-young.
“Tsu.” The moment he recognized his failure, Oh Joo-young clicked his tongue and pulled back without his sword. The direction he withdrew to was not towards his guild members but towards the center of the gate where the monsters and Bomber Girl was. It felt like an eternity for Kang Shin-hyuk, but the entire encounter had only lasted about a second. Even the superhumans around them struggled to fully understand the situation as they watched Oh Joo-young join the monsters. Obviously, before Kang Shin-hyuk had been attacked, the armored monster had called Kang Shin-hyuk Anvil and father, but what happened after was so shocking that no one had time to care about it.
“Ugh…” Kang Shin-hyuk loosened the web and pulled the sword out, blood flowing freely from him. The medicinal effects of the potion he drank remained, quickly stopping the blood flow and regenerating his wound. Considering that the person who attacked him was number one in the world, he had been exceptionally lucky. On the other hand, the sword he now held was exuding a strong sense of rejection against those it didn’t recognize as its owner, but the spiritual power of Kang Shin-hyuk removed the soul poison from it, calming it down. Kang Shin-hyuk couldn’t help but think that Oh Joo-young’s traits were interesting. Part of it seemed similar to his own trait, and to a larger extent, it seemed to overlap with the abilities his former life had to deal with spiritual power. Maybe that was why it was easier to control the sword.
“…!” Kang Shin-hyuk was handling the sword, filling the people around him with amazement. His sword was a famous artifact that expressed his trait Excalibur, which meant that Kang Shin-hyuk had successfully restrained that trait.
“It was with perfect timing. He’s much stronger than I’ve been told.” Oh Joo-young, down a sword, complained to the man in dark armor.
-So I said it would be better to quit. Didn’t you say that Anvil wasn’t the one who could fight back this easily?
The armored friend responded with a sigh, acting like the two had been friends for years.
“Master…? You… Jormungand… Why…?”
“Huh? There are many things going on, but there’s no reason to tell you about it. Damn it, if I knew you’d stop it, I would’ve cut down the Empress.” Vanguard’s submaster, Dane Brook, spoke up, but the answer that came back was ferocious. Suddenly, Bomber Girl was moving behind Oh Joo-young.
“You cooperated as best you could, but in the end, you couldn’t kill a single person? Are you stupid?”
“You only killed one person yourself.”
“Surely…” Dane muttered blankly at the sight.
“Has he been on that side from the beginning?”
“Then, making us fight at the center of the gate was to make it easier for Bomber Girl to kill civilians…?”
“How can this be? You were called the hope of mankind!” Dane’s mutterings triggered the anger of the other superhumans. It wasn’t just with words; they also turned their weapons toward Oh Joo-young. The other members of Vanguard were the angriest of all.
“Don’t be stupid. It’s not uncommon in this era for humans to betray each other.”
“You!”
“Quiet.” Finally, Shin Eunah opened her mouth.
“I don’t plan on watching a new wave drama. You’re my enemy, so I will kill you. Is that alright?” At that point, a whisper arrived from Shin Eunah saying that she would attack Oh Joo-young. Kang Shin-hyuk was quick to grasp her intent and silently nodded.
“No, but before that, why…”
-We are obviously enemies, but for now, be polite to Anvil, who can be called our father…
The armored monster was still speaking politely when something flew over his head. He instinctively activated his defensive skills, but it was in vain. The attack wasn’t aimed at him.
“Kh…?!” Oh Joo-young’s left arm and left leg were consumed by lightning and got burned. He tried to evade the second he recognized the attack, but he was unable to avoid it completely. As soon as he had noticed it, a spider web had wrapped around his body to restrain him. No, that wasn’t all. His physical abilities were clearly weaker…
“You, this…”
“Sorry, I was aiming for your heart.” Shin Eunah was calm as she created a new spear of lightning in her hand. Her extraordinary concentration and infinite magic were united by her terrifyingly precise control to create a miraculous weapon.
“Kh! Hey, help!”
“Sorry, but that can’t be restored! That little boy is using poison!”
“Fuck, interrupting me from start to finish…!” Kang Shin-hyuk frowned at that. From start to finish? He didn’t like either that armored monster of Oh Joo-young, who kept saying things he didn’t understand. He wanted to sit down and figure it all out calmly, but he knew he couldn’t afford to do that right now.
‘So, I’ll ask after…’ Why did Oh Joo-young betray them? Why did he keep finding things that he sold to the Hero Universe possessed by monsters? Why did that monster have the armor that was given to Janus?
“Hahahah!” Kang Shin-hyuk rushed at Joo-young, clapped his hands together to return his sword right back at him wrapped in thread. Oh Joo-young clicked his tongue and cut through the threads with a new sword pulled out from his subspace artifact. At that point, he was already convinced that some debuff was being applied to him. Of course, that was the Golden Dragon Kang Shin-hyuk had activated. Shin Eunah’s had attacked him the precise moment he had activated that trait to prevent him from responding properly. Oh Joo-young’s ability to protect him was incredible, but they had no intention of allowing him to continue.
-Bang!
The swords collided with the sound of a great explosion. Oh Joo-young could feel his right arm throbbing from the impact and raising his left arm reflexively. He felt something unidentifiable flow within his body from the attack, wracking him with pain. It wasn’t the first time. The moment he attacked Kang Shin-hyuk, something began to invade his soul steadily. He ground his teeth and swallowed back the pain.
‘Fuck, I should’ve killed him somehow…’ The original plan was to reduce their power as much as possible by taking out the other top-rankers by surprise. However, when the Thunder Empress revealed her power, he changed that to killing her somehow. However, Anvil then appeared. He aimed for Anvil at the end because his instincts had screamed at him to do so, but this was the result. He couldn’t finish him off, and now his own attacks were causing him to suffer.
“Go, attack!”
“Block them!” The other superhumans began to move upon seeing Kang Shin-hyuk and Shin Eunah confront the enemy. They were met by the SSS-class monsters. Only Bomber Girl and the armored monster remained motionless.
“How is this happening?”
-Anvil’s abilities are better than originally expected. I have to step back.
“It’s bad to run away after this far…”
-Then, we will die here.
“I’ll go first!” Surprisingly, Bomber Girl ignored Oh Joo-young and the other monsters fighting to throw herself into the gate. The monster looked at her and shook his head.
-Humans are really disgusting. I can’t find any fellowship…
“Help!”
-Gladly!
“…!” Oh Joo-young and Kang Shin-hyuk were locked in a fierce battle. However, when Shin Eunah threw a bolt of lightning to finish him off, the armored monster intervened. Even its armor couldn’t completely prevent the attack, however, as it punched a hole in his shoulder.
-Even in my long life, a human has never hurt me like this before. It’s amazing to think you’ve been hiding such strength all this time.
“There were people doing similar things to you guys…ugh?!” Kang Shin-hyuk focused on Oh Joo-young, ignoring the monster. His poisonous spider web, filled with spiritual power, had already spread out in every direction during the battle. The soul poison they emitted was weakening his foe.
“I’m going to get rid of the easy one!”
“I know!”
“Who is easy… huh?!” The breathing of Kang Shin-hyuk and Shin Eunah synchronized. She was using magic to keep Oh Joo-young’s movements in check while also preventing the monster from assisting.
“A little boy! I’ve fought a lot more than you in the past!” Oh Joo-young, firmly pissed off, received the baptism of threads cutting his body. When the sword Kang Shin-hyuk held flew straight at his throat, Oh Joo-young’s sword radiated a brilliant golden color.
“Excalibur!” It was the sword that broke through the realm of myth, blowing away the soul poison and spider webs around his body to strike Kang Shin-hyuk. It was the culmination of his unique SS+ trait. The next moment, it changed its direction dramatically and stabbed into Oh Joo-young’s neck.
“Ugh…” Oh Joo-young grunted. Kang Shin-hyuk neatly cut his head off with his own sword without being shaken, however. The moment he noticed the sword’s ego recognize him, he had thought of energizing it to use it himself. The trait the number one had was great, but he was unaware of spiritual power until the end.
-Sure enough, you already had complete control over the sword. Indeed, you deserve the title of the father of all swords.
The monster jumped up to catch Oh Joo-young’s head as he spoke with admiration.
-I apologize for thinking of you as only a blacksmith. Today, I admit my defeat and leave, father.
“I don’t know of a child like you.”
-It’s a joke; I don’t really like you either. Well then, until next time.
Shin Eunah threw another lightning lance backed by terrible magic, but the armored monster had vanished before it connected. Kang Shin-hyuk was well aware of the function included in the armor known as emergency departure.
“He’s completely gone.”
“…It’s annoying.” Shin Eunah was frustrated she couldn’t catch the monster with her own abilities, stomping at the ground. However, there was no time for resentment. Bomber Girl and the armored monster had disappeared, but there were still plenty of SSS-class monsters around. Kang Shin-hyuk retrieved the golden sword left by Oh Joo-young. He had taken two swords from him now.
“Once we finish them, we can figure it out.” He still had time left for the potion. At his words, Shin Eunah nodded and raised her magic again. The other rankers grew almost tired of the sight of her as she expelled out infinite magical power. Under her command and with Kang Shin-hyuk’s buff, they took out the remaining SSS-class monsters without letting a single one run away.
However, by the time they broke through the gate and were released outside, the French HQ for the association had ceased to exist in that spot.